by Anya Summers
He leaned in close. “And because when something is supposed to be mine and is taken from me, I seek vengeance.”
“My father? What does my father have to do with any of this?”
“He asked me to kill you. You betrayed him and your entire family.” He tsked. “Oh, and he asked me to make it slow and painful. He was like a father to me. Taught me everything I know. And, unlike you, I honor my family instead of bringing shame upon them.”
Then Dominic sucker-punched her in the stomach. It stole the air from her lungs and she blinked back the sudden onslaught of tears from the pain. And he chuckled, like he was enjoying every minute of beating her.
“I never belonged to you,” she spat, and braced herself for more pain. The blow knocked her head back.
She tasted more blood in her mouth. At least the pain was keeping her up. She had a feeling that if she slipped into unconsciousness, she would never wake up. Dominic would make sure of it. “I wouldn’t belong to you for all the money in the world, you dickless windbag.”
“I should shove my cock down your throat and you’ll see I’m in no way dickless,” he snarled, his face close.
She’d hit a nerve, apparently. So many men had the entirety of their egos in their pants. It was sad, really. “Try it and I will bite your thing off. Then again, go ahead, asshole.”
“Now see, I really will miss this, the fire in you. But sadly our time will come to an end.”
She snorted. “You’re all talk, Dominic, when in reality, your threats are as flaccid as your dick.”
“Bitch!” he swore and, holding on to the chair, kneed her in the stomach.
Her body screamed in agony. She was blind with the pain.
“Dominic. Just end it already.” Rayna sighed. She was terrified to the marrow of her bones, but she wanted it over with.
Before the next blow arrived, a shout rang out. “Hands in the fucking air where I can see them!”
Jack. He was here.
Chapter 31
Jack stared at Dominic Travino. The bastard didn’t put his hands on his head. While his team disarmed the others, Jack faced down the man who, for an entire decade, had terrorized the woman he loved.
“Do it, Travino!” he shouted, in no mood to fuck around. Rayna was tied to a metal chair, her head lowered. He couldn’t see her face, it was hidden by her hair. He wanted to run to her and make sure she was all right. Instead he controlled his emotions and kept his cool, but just barely. Rayna needed him to be on point.
“Or you’ll what, Detective? Shoot me? But what if you miss and hit Victoria? Or, forgive me, I meant Rayna. That’s what you know her as, if my sources are accurate.” Travino smiled and it reminded Jack of a snake about to strike.
Jack didn’t take his eyes off him, worried that if he did, Travino would gain the upper hand. Inside, Jack was frantic but on the outside, he maintained his cool. “I’m not going to ask you again. Hands on your fucking head. Now, Travino.”
Still staring at him, Travino withdrew a handgun, pointing it at her temple. “It seems we are at an impasse, Detective. I’m going to ask you and the rest of Agent Carson’s team to put down your weapons, or she dies.”
Rayna lifted her face. Blood seeped from her mouth and a gash in her cheek. She was still the most beautiful woman Jack had ever seen. “Don’t do it, Jack. He’ll kill you.”
“I love you. Do you trust me?” Jack asked.
She smiled. Tears trailed down her cheeks. There was a gun at her temple and he had never witnessed anything so brave. His little firebrand. “Yes.”
“Good. Then keep your eyes on me, babe,” Jack said, feeling his phone vibrate in his back pocket. It meant Spencer was in position. He lowered himself into a crouch and set his Glock on the concrete floor of the iron works factory—the half of the factory that had not been rehabbed.
The moment Jack set the Glock on the ground, Travino turned his gun on him, exactly as he’d planned. Travino extended his arm. Then a bullet hit him dead set between the eyes. Travino’s body slumped forward onto the floor, blood pooling around him.
With the threat removed, Jack raced over to Rayna’s side. He cupped her face, promising himself he would make up for every bruise and new scar.
“Jack. I thought…” She started crying, her shoulders shaking.
He knelt and cut through the ties binding her hands. Once she was freed, he pulled her into his arms. “Hush. I’ve got you. No one is going to ever hurt you again,” he soothed, and let her fall apart. He had to admit he was feeling pretty weepy himself.
Chief Sheffield clapped him on the back. “Good work, Detective. Why don’t we get Miss Thompson’s injuries looked at, shall we?”
“Thanks, Chief,” Jack murmured. Rayna didn’t protest when he scooped her up and carried her out into the sunlight and the waiting ambulance. He had so much he wanted to say to her, so much that he needed to say, but it could wait.
He carried her past his friends, past Spencer, who was even now giving his statement. Jack nodded at Spencer; his brother from another mother had saved them all. And he’d given Jack a chance for a future with Rayna. If she would have him.
Chapter 32
Rayna lay in a hospital bed. She had been stitched up and prodded. She had IV fluids pumping away into her veins. And the little drummer boy had turned into a damn band. She had some bruising, and a cut on her cheek that had been stitched up. Twenty stitches, to be precise. And she had a concussion from all the blows to the head. She’d be hooked up to a monitor until tomorrow morning, when the doctors finally cleared her.
It wasn’t surprising, really. Nor was it her first concussion, which was why they wanted to keep her for observation overnight. Yet through it all, Jack was at her side, holding her hand through each and every test. Through the agents who came to her hospital room in David’s stead to get her statement and take note of all the injuries she’d sustained at the hands of Dominic Travino. And while the guys from the club stopped by to check on her before heading home to celebrate the Fourth with their wives.
Spencer was the last of her visitors. Thank goodness. She and Jack hadn’t had a moment to talk, what with all the doctors and law enforcement and well-wishers. Spencer gave her a gentle hug. “Take off whatever time you need. The job is there when you’re ready.”
“Thank you, Spencer, for everything.” She knew that he was the one who had put a bullet through Dominic, ending his reign of terror over her and so many other countless victims.
“Don’t mention it. I mean it. It’s better if other people don’t know about my part in today’s operation. Speaking of that, the others and I—Carter, Mason, Cole, Garrett, and Alex—have all agreed that your true identity remain a secret from the other members, including our wives. I hope that’s okay with you,” Spencer said.
Rayna understood. It was too dangerous, even with Dominic gone. Who knew how many mercenaries her father had enlisted before his death?
“Yeah. I think it’s for the best,” Rayna replied. That part of her life was now truly over with Dominic dead. There was no reason for her to reassume her old identity. It was best to let that name die with the rest of her past.
“Good. Take care. You’ve got a good man there.” Spencer indicated Jack.
She looked at Jack and her heart expanded exponentially. “Yeah, I do. The very best.”
Spencer headed out and it was finally just the two of them, for the first time in what seemed like hours.
“Jack, I—”
“Rayna,” David Carson said from the door to her room.
She turned and faced him. “David, you’re all right.” She smiled at him as he walked into the room. He was dressed in slacks and a dress shirt, with a large bandage over one side of his head. He looked pale, but would survive his injuries.
“So are you, I see. I wanted to talk to you before I left,” David explained.
“Whatever you need to say, you can do it in front of Jack.”
“I figured. First,
I want to say how sorry I am. I didn’t know that Kirk was betraying the Bureau. He covered his tracks well. It’s because of me and my ineptitude that you’ve had to keep on running, and for that I hope you can forgive me.”
“It’s all right. I feel better knowing it wasn’t anything I had done… from the beginning of all of this.” Because parts of herself she hadn’t realized were still broken had healed. Knowing without a doubt that she wasn’t the reason why Nicolas died had melded pieces of herself back together. She would always mourn for him, for the light that was taken from the world far too soon. But now she knew it had never been her fault.
“That’s good. Second, I’m going to make sure that no one else comes after you ever again,” David said.
“How are you going to do that?” That would be a miracle. She had been rolling things over in her head and wondering if she should start over a fourth time, just to be on the safe side.
“The official story that we are feeding to the media is that Victoria Giancarlo was killed by the mob boss, Dominic Travino, who later died in a shootout with police. The Bureau will stage a funeral with a casket and headstone in your family cemetery. To the rest of the world, Victoria Giancarlo will be dead.”
She felt the tears trickle down her cheeks. “I’m not going to see you again, am I?”
“With any luck, no, you won’t. But I will always be around, if you need me. Besides, I think it’s time I passed the baton for protecting you over to Detective Stone. Be happy, live your life. It will make me inordinately happy if you do that.” David walked over to her bedside and gave her a hug before leaving her alone with Jack.
Rayna glanced at Jack. Her heart so full of love and hope, she felt like she was going to burst.
“I’m so sorry that Travino got you on my watch. Please forgive me,” Jack said, a stoic expression on his face. But when she looked deeper, she could see his fear; fear that she was going to leave him for his perceived failure.
“I’m not, Jack. You couldn’t have known. No one knew about the mole in the Bureau, not even Carson. I forgive you, even though there is nothing to forgive,” she said, squeezing his hand.
“You’re not angry at all?” Jack asked, the surprise evident in his voice.
“Not even a little bit. I’m free, Jack. Don’t you get it? Dominic’s gone. Everyone will think I died with him. I’m free to live my life. Although I do feel a little weird that I’m not changing my name again after a run in with him,” she said. But that also meant she could continue to build a life here, in Jackson Hole.
“Well, perhaps I can help you with that,” Jack replied.
“How?”
His expression grew serious. “If your last name was changed to Stone.”
Rayna looked into his eyes and saw everything she could possibly want in them. All the love he had for her, and their potential for a future that was filled with more joy and happiness than she’d ever thought possible. His words, the meaning behind them, brought on a fresh bout of tears.
“If you’ll have me, babe. What do you say? Marry me. I can promise you that I will love you forever,” Jack murmured, waiting for her to respond.
“Yes, Jack, forever sounds good to me,” Rayna replied through her tears, but for once they were tears of joy, not sorrow.
He leaned over the bed and kissed her with such gentleness, she knew in her heart that not a day would pass when she wouldn’t remember this moment. Because it was the moment she stopped running from her past and ran toward her future. A future filled with a lifetime of love with her guardian, her Dom, her Jack.
~ The End ~
Afterword
My dearest reader,
First, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for how much you have embraced the Cuffs & Spurs Series. It has been a wild, sexy ride with Carter, Mason, Cole, Garrett, Alex, Spencer and, lastly, Jack, and the lucky ladies who have tamed these alphas.
Second, when I originally envisioned this series, I had no idea how much I was going to love these guys. I don’t know about you, but I am head over heels for my cowboys at Cuffs & Spurs. And I realized during the last two books that there were more stories in Jackson Hole that I still have yet to tell. However, we are going to take a little break from them and head south to one of my favorite cities on the planet.
We’re going to New Orleans! I cannot wait for you to meet the Masters of Club Underworld in my all new Crescent City Kings Series. Some of you may remember Michael and Dante, who made appearance in the Pleasure Island Series. Well, this is their club and their rules in a city that is as decadent and exotic as the cuisine. Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Xoxo,
Anya Summers
Anya Summers
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Anya grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Anya never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.
Anya is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Anya Summers and Blushing Books!
The Dungeon Fantasy Club Collection
The complete set of all eight full-length, scintillating, spicy romance novels!
Her Highland Master
To Master and Defend
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His Driven Domme
Her Country Master
Love Me, Master Me
Submit to Me
Her Wired Dom
The Pleasure Island Collection
The complete set of nine full-length novels!
Her Master and Commander, Book 1
Her Music Masters, Book 2
Their Shy Submissive, (Novella) Book 3
Her Lawful Master, Book 4
Her Rockstar Dom, Book 5
Duets and Dominance, Book 6
Her Undercover Doms (Novella) Book 7
Ménage in Paradise, Book 8
Her Rodeo Masters, Book 9
Cuffs and Spurs Series
His Scandalous Love, Book 1
His Unexpected Love, Book 2
His Wicked Love, Book 3
His Untamed Love, Book 4
His Tempting Love, Book 5
His Seductive Love, Book 6
His Secret Love, Book 7
Alcyran Chronicles Series
Taken By The Beast, Book 1
Claimed By The Beast, Book 2
Audio Books
Her Highland Master
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